Candidate to the Post of Member of the RRB (Radio Regulations Board)
Robert W. JONES, Canada

GENERAL INFORMATION

Name

Robert W. JONES

Nationality

Canadian

Date of birth

November 22, 1943.

Place of birth

St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

Civil status

Married. He has a married son
and daughter and six grandchildren

Mr. Jones has many years of
radiocommunication experience as well as national and
international spectrum management experience. He has worked
in the private and public radiocommunication sectors in
Canada as well as at the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) where, most recently, he was Director of the
Radiocommunication Bureau. In that capacity, he was also the
Executive Secretary to the Radio Regulations Board. Mr.
Jones is committed to the ITU and is well suited to apply
his extensive technical and Radio Regulations experience to
serve the ITU membership as a Member of the Radio
Regulations Board.

RADIOCOMMUNICATION EXPERIENCE

Mr. Jones has been involved in radiocommunications for most of his life both on a personal and professional level. He obtained a Bachelor of Applied Science in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto in 1965 followed by a Master of Applied Science degree in 1967 also from the University of Toronto in the field of antennas and electromagnetic theory. Between 1965 and 1975, he worked for two companies which design antennas and transmission lines, Sinclair Radio Laboratories and Andrew Antenna Company Limited. At Andrew, he designed, among other things, the earth station antennas for Canada’s domestic, geostationary satellite system, the first such system in the world. While working in the private sector, Mr. Jones furthered his formal education by obtaining a Master of Business Administration degree from York University.

NATIONAL SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE

In 1975, Mr. Jones joined the Canadian Department of Communications (now known as Industry Canada). There he held progressively more responsible positions in the areas of spectrum policy, telecommunications industry structure policy and spectrum management. Most recently, he held the position of Director General of the Radiocommunications and Broadcasting Regulatory Branch. As Director General, his duties, among many others, included the responsibility for national spectrum management regulations and Canada’s responsibilities with regard to the ITU’s Radio Regulations including submission of frequency notifications to the ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau. Mr. Jones has headed numerous Canadian delegations to bilateral and multilateral frequency coordination meetings held within the framework of the ITU’ s Radio Regulations and taking into account the particular characteristics of the Americas region.

INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE

Mr. Jones began his involvement with the ITU in 1975 when, as Chief of Broadcast Spectrum Policy, he participated in Canada's preparations for the 1977 World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) on Satellite Broadcasting. He attended this WARC and served as Canada's spokesman in the important planning committee. He continued his WARC involvement by preparing for and participating in WARC-79. As Director of Spectrum Policy at that time, Mr. Jones at WARC-79 was the person on the Canadian delegation responsible for all spectrum allocation matters.

In 1981, Mr. Jones was selected by the ITU for a senior appointed position reporting directly to the Secretary General and to the Members of the International Frequency Registration Board (IFRB) as the first Director of a major automation project to modernize the ITU's frequency publication, notification and registration process.

Mr. Jones continued his ITU involvement after returning to Canada in 1983 by chairing the ITU's Voluntary Group of Experts overseeing the above mentioned automation project on behalf of the ITU's Administrative Council. Mr. Jones participated in the work of the Council for more than twenty years. Mr. Jones was the Canadian member on the Panel of Experts on the Long Term Future of the IFRB which, in 1987-88, reviewed the IFRB in the light of changing circumstances.

In addition to participating as an ITU official in the 1982 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Nairobi, Mr. Jones was Deputy Head of the Canadian delegation to the 1989 Plenipotentiary Conference in Nice. In 1992, he headed the Canadian delegation to WARC-92 in Malaga-Torremolinos, Spain. He also headed the Canadian delegation to the Additional Plenipotentiary Conference held in Geneva in December 1992. Mr. Jones participated in every meeting of the High Level Committee which reviewed the structure and functioning of the ITU and whose recommendations were, by and large, adopted by the 1992 Additional Plenipotentiary Conference.

Mr. Jones was the Canadian member of the Voluntary Group of Experts which studied the allocation and improved use of the radio frequency spectrum and simplification of the Radio Regulations. Mr. Jones also headed the Canadian delegations to the 1993 Radiocommunication Assembly and to the 1993 World Radiocommunication Conference.

At the Plenipotentiary Conference in Kyoto in 1994, he was elected to the post of Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau. At the Plenipotentiary Conference in Minneapolis in 1998, he was re-elected for a second term. As the first person elected to the post of Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau, Mr. Jones was instrumental in completing the transition to the new Radiocommunication Sector. He provided leadership to the Bureau and in the technical and regulatory preparations for the successful Radiocommunication Assemblies and World Radiocommunication Conferences in 1995, 1997 and 2000. Two terms being the maximum for an elected official in the ITU, at the end of 2002, he returned to Canada where, since retiring from the Canadian government in March 2003, he has provided consulting services to a range of clients including at WRC-2003.

As Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau, in accordance with No. 174 of the ITU Convention, Mr. Jones was the Executive Secretary of the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) from 1995 to 2002 inclusive. During these eight years, he supported the work of the Board including overseeing the preparation of draft Rules of Procedure for consideration by the Members of the RRB. He therefore has a first hand knowledge of the workings of the Board and has all of the necessary qualifications and experience to be an effective Member of the Radio Regulations Board.

EDUCATION

1965

Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A. Sc.)
Faculty of Engineering

1967

Master of Applied Science (M.A.Sc.)
York University

1975

Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Mr. Jones is a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario.

Mr. Jones possesses excellent oral and written communication skills in the English language combined with a proficiency in the French language.

Mr. Jones was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada on November 22, 1943.

Mr. Jones is married and has a married son and daughter and six grandchildren.